4/5/2007 - Study of potential therapy to prevent heart disease offers mixed results A drug that targets inflammation of blood vessel walls, a contributing factor to many heart attacks, has produced mixed results in a recent study. Researchers examined the drug succinobucol hoping to find out if it helps prevent major cardiovascular events. Though the drug wasn't any better than a placebo in preventing these problems as a whole, it did appear to help protect against heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death. According to researchers, succinobucol has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that could potentially help prevent heart disease. Most current prevention strategies, such as blood pressure-lowering medications and statin drugs that reduce cholesterol, focus on addressing risk factors. The study, which was presented at the 56th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology, involved 6,144 people who either had a heart attack or unstable angina (chest pain). All were being treated with standard medications, including aspirin, statins, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and anti-platelet and anti-coagulant drugs. Researchers randomly assigned people to receive either a daily dose of 300 milligrams of succinobucol or a placebo. They then followed the people for an average of 24 months to determine rates of cardiovascular death, resuscitated cardiac arrest, heart attack, stroke, coronary revascularization (angioplasty or bypass surgery) and hospitalization for unstable angina caused by a blocked coronary artery. When compared to placebo, the drug didn't help prevent these events as a whole. But when researchers looked only at rates of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke, they found a 19 percent reduction in risk for people taking succinobucol. What’s more, people given succinobucol were found to have better blood sugar control and were less likely to develop diabetes. Interestingly, however, succinobucol was associated with an increase in bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol. Since the findings are considered very preliminary, more research is needed, according to the study authors. But they said that even though succinobucol failed in the study's primary goal of helping reduce cardiovascular events as a whole, the drug's possible benefits in preventing some specific heart problems are encouraging enough to warrant further studies. Back